What's Heaven Like?
by Suraiburu
Summary: Sequel to "Reincarnation". It's been 1000 years since Clear first met Aoba and it's finally time for this machine to break down and "die". This is the story of how Clear reunites with Aoba. Short, sweet, AU, and little OOC.


My name... is Clear... I was able to be reunited with my beloved Aoba-san through reincarnation for many, many years. I am thankful to the gods (if there are any) for that. But I fear... Aoba-san will never be able to be with me again... It's been well over a thousand years since I first met Aoba-san... Ren-san broke down and could go no further about 400 years back. He lasted a long time for an Allmate as old as he was. With no way to fix him, I buried him alongside Aoba-san.

This new Aoba-san is very kind. His name is Kiba-san. Though with kanji making up his name, it doesn't mean "fang". The kanji used for "Ki" means "yellow" and the kanji used for "ba" is the "leaf" Kanji that could be pronounced "ha". So his name means "yellow leaf" and he's often called "Koyotchi" by the kids in the neighborhood as a joke. All the Aoba-sans were different colored leaves. So many pretty colors.  
>Kiba-san helps me to the broken down house, though I've tried to keep it maintained for years. With no way to repair me, I've slowly started to "die" in a sense. Kiba-san only met me a few months ago and his memory of being "Aoba-san" resurfaced last week... but I don't think we'll be together much longer.<br>"Clear... please hang on... I know you're really old, but... can't you last a few more years?" Kiba-san looks at me with pleading eyes.  
>I nod, stiffly. My joins are rusty and my voice generator died a while back (almost 200 years ago), so none of the new Aoba-san's have been able to hear my voice. I feel bad, because I want to sing my songs to them. But I'm tired.<br>"Please don't leave me all along, Clear. I come back every time to see you. I love you," Kiba-san says and nuzzles my hand. "I may not be the same person every time, but it's me. Please... Clear..."  
>I shut my eyes slowly. I promised Kiba-san that I'd stay with him a few more years... but it seems... I can't hold out. My CPU is burning out.<br>"Clear?"  
>I'm sorry Kiba-san... I'm sorry Aoba-san. I won't be here to greet you anymore.<br>"Clear!"

...Darkness. That's what envelops me. Swirling all around. Is this what it's like to die as a robot? Still with a semi-conscious brain but no power to activate... wait... I don't remember feeling like this the last time I died. It was just black and then all of a sudden, light. There were no thoughts because my thought processor died when the rest of my body died.  
>So maybe I'm not truly dead? Just in a sleep mode? That doesn't make sense though. I felt my CPU die... I should be dead with no lingering thoughts...<br>Also... why do I have this heavy feeling? I feel like I'm sinking...

...I don't know how long I've been in this darkness with these thoughts. Will I wake up someday? My body feels light now and I feel like I'm float.  
>Am I about to wake up...?<p>

I open my eyes and see a bright light. White surrounds everywhere and I stand up, cautious. I turn and see a familiar face with familiar blue hair.  
>"Aoba-san?" I ask, but... it feels different when I talk. As if... I have actual vocal chords.<br>"Yes, Clear, it's me," Aoba-san answers with a smile as he walks over and holds my hand.  
>"Aoba-san, where are we?" I ask, confused. Why is he here? Why I am I here? What is this place?<br>"Clear... we're in Heaven," Aoba-san answers and I freeze. This can't be possible. I'm... I'm a machine. Machines don't get to go to Heaven or Hell. When they die for good, they never come back.  
>"How... is this possible?" I ask slowly, eyes mixed with confusion but also happiness. Aoba-san is here. Aoba-san...<br>"I ask Kami-sama for a favor," Aoba-san states and I look at him with a head tilt.  
>"What did you ask for?" I ask steadily.<br>"I ask for him to give you a soul so you can live like a human," Aoba-san smiles and I fall to my knees, real tears stinging my eyes.  
>"Aoba-san..." I... I'm human now? I can't stop the tears as they flow from my eyes. Aoba-san kneels before me and hugs me.<br>"In exchange, I promised Kami-sama that I would love you for all eternity no matter how your human form came to look like. Who knows, next life you might be a female or I might be... we could have a real family, Clear," Aoba-san smiles at me and I can't hold it back and kiss him. Plain and simple, but with all the love and compassion I hold for him.  
>"Aoba-san... I love you," I cry out as our lips separate and I look into Aoba-san's eyes. His eyes say it all. He loves me, too.<br>"I love you, too, Clear. You mean the world and so much more to me," Aoba-san states and helps me up to my feet. I look behind him and see other familiar faces. Koujaku-san! Mink-san! Noiz-san! Tae-san! And...  
>"Ren-san?!" I ask, bewildered when I see his online appearance in soul form.<br>"It's a long story... essentially when Ren came about, he split from a fragment of who I was so a part of my soul went with him and he developed his own person... so when he died as an Allmate, that part of my soul manifested into its own being and is now Ren's own soul," Aoba-san explains and I nod. I understand. Ren-san was a part of Aoba-san that became his own person.  
>"Everyone's here," I smile and Aoba-san nods, patting my head and I smile. I get a chance to be human for the first time ever and I get to stay human forever. "This is the best present ever, Aoba-san."<br>"Happy Birthday, Clear," Aoba-san smiles and I chuckle. Technically... today is my birthday. Today is the day I was "born" as a human soul. Kami-sama truly is a magnificent being to be able to take the memories and entity of who I was as a machine and manifest them into its own human form.  
>"So if you're here now..." I trail off and look to the side.<br>"Who I was as Kiba-san passed away some time ago. It's been almost another hundred years because it took time to gather all your 'data' and craft it into a human soul. As an Angel, we all pitched in," Aoba-san smiles and I nod my thanks to the others behind them.  
>"I have one more question," I state, looking down before glancing up at Aoba-san.<br>"Yes, Clear?" He smiles at me.  
>"What's Heaven like?" I smile and he holds my hand in his.<br>"Why don't we find out together? We have an eternity to spend together now. Not just a measly lifespan. But now that you can be born again, we don't need to remember our past lives to find each other in life again," Aoba-san says.  
>I tilt my head. "Why not?" He lifts up his left pinky and I see a red string tied at the end of it. I follow its trail and find it connected to my left pinky. "What's this?" I lift up my left pinky in awe.<br>"'Heart to heart, look for your mate. You two will be tied by the red string of fate'," Aoba-san smiles and I break down crying again as I hug him. The red string of fate... so we're soul mates.  
>"We really are meant for each other," I smile and we kiss before I enter the realm of the angels... Heaven. I never once dreamed this was possible, but it is... and it happened to me because Kami-sama saw how pure our love was. Thank you... Kami-sama.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Kiba's name is written like this: 黄葉. "黄" is "Ki", meaning "yellow" and "葉" is "ha" (pronounced "ba"), meaning "leaf". It can technically be pronounced "Kōyō", but the mother decided to use the pronunciation "Ki" and "ba" to produce "Kiba". The Kiba in most stories is written as "牙" meaning "fang".<strong>  
><strong>The neighborhood kids call him "Koyotchi" because "Koyo" is another way to pronounce his name and "tchi" is a typical thing to tack on to names as a nickname in Japan.<strong>  
><strong>Also, "Kami-sama" means "God"... I couldn't bring myself to actually say "God"... ;u;<strong>

**Your author,  
>Nova<strong>


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